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Income Inequality Is A Problem And President Obama Is Tackling It

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Today, the average after-tax income of a member of the top 1 percent of earners is $1.12 million. The average after-tax income of someone in the bottom 20 percent is $13,300. That means the average person at the top takes home 84 times the income that the average person in the bottom takes home. Now, consider what it would be like if none of President Obama’s tax policy changes had happened: not the upper-income tax hikes negotiated at the beginning of last year, not the upper-income tax increases imposed by the Affordable Care Act, not the low-income tax credits enacted in the 2009 stimulus and later renewed.

In this alternative universe, the average member of the top 1 percent would take home $1.2 million, or 6.5 percent more in income, according to a new analysis. The average member of the bottom 20 percent would bring home $13,100, or 1.2 percent less in income. As a result, the average member of the 1 percent would take home 91 times what the average person in the bottom would bring home. If you’ve wondered whether Obama has made any headway at reducing income inequality, here’s evidence that he has. Based on tax policy alone, he has slightly increased the income of the poor and more significantly reduced the income of the rich.

President Obama, VP Biden and and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano at a ceremony to honor the 2012 National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) TOP COPS award winners in the Rose Garden of the White House

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Chancellor Harold Martin and first lady Michelle Obama chat at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Commencement in Greensboro, NC. Michelle Obama was honored with a Doctorate in Humanities.

Here’s a world exclusive preview of what Mark Landler will (probably) write in the New York Times tomorrow:

“It was a demoralizing day for President Obama on his bus tour of North Carolina and Virginia, some of his lowest points, captured by our photographers, demonstrating just how much distance there now is between him and the people who once supported him.

From the moment he took to the stage in the morning to speak at the Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, it was evident how jaded and down he is, no spring in his step, no sign of the energy that he once displayed at these events:

Grim-faced and unsmiling….

….. his speech was so uninspiring it even prompted one member of the audience to start reading the book he’d brought with him just in case he was bored:

After the speech, the President displayed yet more of his professorial aloofness, failing to connect with his audience or show any human warmth:

It got worse later in the day when the President visited Bluestone High School in Skipwith, a group of teenagers (Jon Huntsman supporters, according to Mark Halperin) giving him an angry and hostile reception when he arrived:

There was a particularly ugly exchange with a student in pink:

…. which resulted in Secret Service having to step in:

On to Reidsville, N.C. and Brodnax, Virginia, where the President was confronted by several enraged women, two of them actually attempting to strangle him:

Stunned, the President ran for shelter in a Reidsville restaurant, where he hoped to find a warm and fuzzy reception, but there was to be no respite from the hostility, two enraged seniors confronting him, rather venomously:

The President, by now a broken man, left for Emporia, Virginia, where he gave another speech to a half-empty hall of largely unenthusiastic one-time supporters at Greensville County High School:

Once again, he ignored the issue that is, clearly, the most important to Americans – unemployment:

…. which might have explained the ugly incident that completed his day, when a young black man – possibly a Tavis Smiley and Cornel West fan – attempted to assault him by hitting his hand really hard:

Frankly, it’s hard to know how the President can recover from such a demoralizing day (#VoteMitt).”

Pool report from Boone: POTUS stopped in this picturesque college town that is home to Appalachian State University…. he worked his way through the Mast General Store …. its major selling point appeared to be tubs of candy, and the sales clerk helped guide POTUS through the confectionery paradise.

As he made his way toward the press, Peter Nicholas of the LA Times said to him: “You won’t find this in the White House garden, Mr. President.”

“On Halloween, the First Lady doesn’t mind,” he replied, smiling, as he filled a bucket with maple nut clusters, macaroons, and York peppermint patties.

Rounding the corner, POTUS saw another long candy counter and said, “It just goes on forever.”

After putting more sweets in his bucket, he petted a little black dog that looked like a miniature version of Bo. “Bo says hi,” he said to the dog’s owner.

As cameras flashed, a group of girls mugged behind POTUS, prompting him to ask, “are you guys making rabbit ears behind me?”

Then it was time to heft a baby – in this case one-year-old Mason Wainwright….

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West Wilkes High School in Millers Creek, North Carolina – original video here

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OffTheCharts: We previously described the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) as one of the “most effective pieces of anti-poverty legislation in decades,” saying its temporary expansion of the safety net kept 4.5 million people out of poverty in 2009. Actually, the impact was greater than we thought.

We now know that, when one follows recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on how to measure poverty more comprehensively, seven of ARRA’s provisions kept more than 6 million Americans above the NAS poverty line – that is, out of poverty – in 2009.

Maddow Blog: Tina McGrevy writes from Springfield, Ohio: “My husband, a former Republican and voter of John McCain, stands next to the sign he placed in our front lawn. During our 15 years of marriage, our votes have just cancelled each other out. Thank you Gov. John Kasich for finally bringing us together, politically. We brought our early ballots to the Election Board on Charlie’s birthday as he will be out of state on Election Day. They were identical.”

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Steve Benen: For folks below a certain age, Robert Bork’s name is probably only vaguely familiar. Ronald Reagan nominated the right-wing jurist to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1987, launching one of the fiercest and most important nomination fights in generations. Bork, by the way, lost that fight – the Senate concluded his ideology was simply too extreme for the high court.

That was the correct call. Bork had, after all, endorsed Jim Crow-era poll taxes, condemned portions of the Civil Rights Act banning discrimination in public accommodations, and argued against extending the equal protection of the 14th Amendment to women, among other things.

A quarter-century later, it’s not news that Bork is still an extremist … the salience here comes with appreciating what Bork is currently up to …. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney chose Bork to serve as the co-chair of his “Judicial Advisory Committee.”

From the “It was a good idea at the time” file comes this photo from the Boston Globe of Mitt Romney during his Bain Capital days. Look at all that cash Romney and the fellas are flashing…..

Folks are demonstrating all over the country – the world, now – under the “Occupy Wall Street” banner. They are protesting the excesses of corporations and the yawning economic divide, among a slew of other things. They might be out of work, burdened with debt or fearful that playing by the rules no longer means anything. The 99 percent are enraged by the 1 percent – and this photo is emblematic of why.

10:30: Delivers remarks at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Virginia. The President will be joined by First Lady Michelle Obama. As part of her Joining Forces initiative, the First Lady will announce a major private sector commitment to hire veterans and military spouses.

2:40: The President speaks to fire fighters at Fire Station 9 North Chesterfield, VA

Also on Wednesday, the First Lady and Dr Jill Biden travel to Game One of the World Series in St. Louis, Missouri where they will promote Joining Forces and MLB’s Welcome Back Veterans program. Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden will join representatives from MLB and the St. Louis Cardinals in hosting a military families appreciation event at the St. Louis Veterans Center.

7:45: Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden will participate in a special pre-game ceremony with veterans and military families at Busch Stadium. Game One of the World Series will be broadcast live on FOX starting at 7:30.

Prior to the game, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden will answer questions on the Joining Forces initiative submitted by MLB fans through Facebook and Twitter. People around the country can submit questions for Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden through MLB’s Facebook page or on Twitter with the hashtag #AskMichelle.

President Obama talks about the role innovation and education can play in stimulating the economy and creating new jobs and calls on Congress to extend tax cuts for middle-class Americans as well as unemployment insurance during a visit to Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, NC. December 6